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ADELANTO, Calif. () — A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit on Monday, accusing the private operator of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center of subjecting detained immigrants to inhumane conditions, medical neglect and systemic abuse that attorneys say have already cost lives.
The lawsuit alleges the GEO Group, which runs the High Desert detention facility under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has failed to provide basic medical and mental health care, adequate food and water, and sanitary living conditions for nearly 2,000 immigrants held at the center.
“Families have watched as loved ones disappear into a detention system where cruelty has been normalized, and accountability has vanished,” said Gina Amato, an immigrants’ rights attorney at Public Counsel.
The complaint was filed by Public Counsel, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Immigrant Defenders Law Center and the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP on behalf of current detainees. Attorneys say overcrowding, driven by increased immigration enforcement, overwhelmed staffing, medical services and safety protections.
“This explosion happened without sufficient staffing, without adequate medical infrastructure and without basic safeguards to protect health and safety,” said Rebecca Brown, supervising attorney at Public Counsel. “This was not an accident. It was a choice.”
The lawsuit highlights two deaths in custody that occurred just weeks apart last fall. Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old DACA recipient, died in September 2025. One month later, 56-year-old Gabriel Garcia-Aviles died after being detained at Adelanto for about a week. Both deaths remain under investigation.
Family members say they were unaware their loved ones were seriously ill.
“We found out about his passing early in the morning when police knocked at our door,” said Jose Ayala, brother of Ayala-Uribe. “We had no idea he was hospitalized.”
Gabriel Garcia Jr., whose father died in custody, said he wants accountability.
“We want justice, not just for my dad, but for everyone else who is going through this,” he said.
One former detainee described prolonged medical neglect and indifference from staff.
“It didn’t matter that we were coughing with fever,” said Mario, a former detainee who declined to give his last name out of safety concerns. “I spent two days in bed, and no one came by to see if I was OK or if I’d eaten.”
Attorneys say the conditions are designed to pressure detainees into abandoning their legal rights.
“Like most ICE prisons, it is engineered to be so punishing, so relentlessly soul-crushing, that people abandon their rights and accept deportation, even when they have strong asylum claims,” said Alvaro Huerta, the director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
The lawsuit seeks court-ordered reforms, including improved medical care, adequate food, sanitary conditions and limits on solitary confinement, along with independent oversight.
Eyewitness News reached out to the GEO Group, but did not receive a response by our deadline.
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